


Batter Up

by lovesikkle



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: Baseball, Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28326417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovesikkle/pseuds/lovesikkle
Summary: Axl and Rosie engage in an age-old pastime: catch.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Batter Up

**Author's Note:**

> This was a fun piece that I did for my Secret Santa event on Twitter. I'm really proud of this one.

Rosie sighed deeply as she set down her pen. It seemed like the paperwork was endless nowadays. “Maybe I should approve some funds for a real accountant...,” she murmured, burying her face in her hands. “I’m surprised we haven’t gotten audited...”

In the depths of the night when no Hunters should be awake, the pneumatic doors hissed open. Rosie tilted her gaze upwards lazily, expecting Zero or maybe Alia, but she shifted when she registered Axl waiting patiently in the aperture. 

“Hey,” he said softly, hugging himself shyly.

“It’s past your bedtime,” Rosie chuckled, beckoning for him to come into the bay. “What’s up?”

Axl came and sat on the counter of her triage station. “Couldn’t sleep,” he said shortly.

“So you came to ol’ Rosie for some illegal meds?” She jested lightly, drawing a chuckle out of him. “Anything you wanna talk about?” Axl shook his head slowly. “That’s alright. Just got too much on your noggin?”

“Yeah...,” Axl admitted.

Rosie got up and ruffled up his hair. “Being a baby Hunter does that to you. It clears up after a while. I promise,” she said, rounding the edge of the desk and gesturing for him to follow her out of the med bay. “It helps to do stuff to take your mind off of it. Let’s go have a little fun. What do you say?”

Axl gave her a small smile and followed her through the quiet halls. They passed the sleepy navigation station and down the elevator to the training simulators.

“So fun fact about these things,” Rosie said, pulling up the command center for one of the large machines. “They weren’t always meant to simulate fighting Mavericks.”

Axl blinked. “What else could you have used these for?” He asked. “They seem like some pretty specialized pieces of tech.”

An oddly familiar fanfare echoed through the open facility and a green, grassy diamond spread out beneath their feet. “Who’s ready to play ball?” Rosie asked, smirking at Axl. The sparkles in his eyes were all the answer she needed. “A long time ago, these used to be used for simulating sports. We had a really awesome programmer some time ago who managed to convert these into what they are now, but you can still use them to play baseball if you really want to. Zero and I used to toss balls back and forth for hours. Claimed batting helped with his saber skills.” She climbed up onto the pitcher’s mound and brandished a pristine baseball in her hand. “That said, I’m no pushover.” She gave him a wink before winding up and hurling the ball at him.

Axl caught it easily, but it left a prominent sting in his palm. “Not bad,” he said, heading to the batting area. He threw the ball back to her, but it fell short a few feet of the mound.

“Looks like you need to work on your throwing arm,” Rosie chuckled. “Let’s work on that before you pick up a bat, hotshot.” She came closer to him and tossed the ball just a bit lighter. Axl caught it and tossed it back to her, this time spanning the gap between them. It landed exactly in her waiting hands. “Nice aim! I’d expect nothing less from our resident sharpshooter, though. Zero can’t pitch to save his life, but that’s what never launching a projectile in your life does to you.”

“When are you launching projectiles, Rosie?” Axl chuckled.

“I have a lot of hobbies that you don’t know about, kiddo,” she said playfully, tossing the ball back to him. “I dance, crochet, go wine tasting on occasion...”

“Really?!”

“No,” Rosie giggled, intercepting the ball yet again. “I’m just pulling your leg. The rookies always fall for that one. But I do more than just sit in that med bay all day. I’m glad you took a chance on me, kiddo.” The ball flew between the two of them yet again. “I’ve never met a rookie so willing to sit around and be boring with me before. I really appreciate it. I think you’re something really special, too. Exactly what the Hunters needed right now.”

Axl smiled bashfully and returned the ball to Rosie. “I don’t think you’re boring at all, Rosie,” he said. “You tell really great jokes for someone who spends all their time locked away in a med bay. You do a great job of fixing me up after missions, too. The medics back at Red Alert didn’t care that much...”

“I’m just doing my job, kiddo,” Rosie said, volleying the ball back to him. “I made a promise to every injured Reploid who comes through my doors that I would fix them up. You’re no exception. I don’t care about where you came from. I just wanna make sure you get where you’re going. Commander X’s bent on giving you a hard time, but I see a genuine soul in that body of yours. You wanna help, and you’re doing a good job of helping.”

“Thanks, Rosie...,” he said, catching the ball easily. “I know it’s my fault that there’s fighting happening to begin with...”

Rosie scoffed and shook her head. “Who told you that? It’s that psycho Red’s fault for starting it. You’re just a kid wrapped up in the middle of grown-ups bickering. It’s not your fault at all,” she said, waiting for the ball to come back. “It kinda makes me wanna take you in and train you to be my assistant just to get you away from all the chaos, but it’s not my place to tell you what you wanna be or what you wanna do. In the meantime, I’ll be here backing you up and making sure nothing bad happens to you. On or off the battlefield.”

Axl clutched the baseball tight and teared up. “You really mean that?”

Rosie’s expression melted into a soft compassionate one and she came up to him, placing a supportive hand on his shoulder. “Of course I do, kiddo.”


End file.
